Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-12-13
CHASING THE 90.
How tho oreat Ra,lra.,
Their RotIin~ In.

How the Great Ralro...
"eir Rolling stoel Inst
Car cliasers are anon. u
portant employees of thu ~ ~ most II
lines OF railroads. The 81, s.sA tut
describes their business. On IVY exae,
roads they are called trays su'ue nj
agents. The department bs .s'ing %
pioys them is also called ya ra wa'sss
car agent. the car cco,n.''oasy u,
superintendent of rolling stock took q = u
officials have as many as : ! iaes
sistants on some of the graz u0leA a
nine or ten being clerks a. sea road
month and the rest being eb ~ = W.
travel all over the couotra a'er' sAs
passes hunting up MISSING IN tie
who receive sl2o or 500 4 m ssn, and
expenses. ''ohth and
Great railroads have immon,
bers of cars. The Central ~. num-
New Jersey has about IS Ooo - ,s'road d
the Pennsylvania railroad ca s na sst's
10000. These cars are At ,h o'Ow o
m, in every State in the p ns'
They go wherever the frs; S onloe
which they are loaded is biIlsd ~ !, wild
thus are scattered from Winni -, and
Mexico and Los Angeles to Bang r,s .
most minute and thorough syst sut
tanning on all railroads excent ~ o.
smallest records every moyems s ,f'y
every car. This system opera,,. 10y Z, {.
junction points. where the aoe, = ~
cord the ownership and pu@h ~ =.
every car that passes from Their !, : y
to connecting line, and immaa, 'o,a
notify the roads whose ears ara ~
motion, as well as the car accon". ' u
OF their own road. These no,i6e.s ;''
are made by postal card n aY
general Office car account books =,
kept, and the movement of thu oa ~
panys own cars are recorded a.
day to day. Whenever a loaded os a"a
emptied on foreign road, that ra >, !
uses it to carry load of freight h, hay
in the direction of the road to whi.a a
the car belongs. 1t pays at the r,,. ' !,
seven-eights cent mile for this uss !
its neighbours property in this wav ~, !,
if it should happen that there was M
freight to be shipped in that direc,o,
within reasonably short time Ii.
empty car is sent along and mileage |,
paid on it as if it were laden
1t is when a number of cars arr lo.
sight of that a travelling agent i zen,
out. Sometimes it happens that M
cars are on little branch roads idle and
overlooked. sometimes they have fallen
into the hands of a companv that !,
short OF cars and full of business, and
sometimes other equally simple cause,
delay it. If it is in use by COMPANY
short of cars, that company pays mile.
age on it, until it sometimes happen,
that a car is worn out and paid for be.
fore it is returned. or else it is never re.
turned at all. If car chaser demand,
the,return of his company's cars, they
are sent home, but often Others ara
seized and put to use when his back |,
turned. and he is travelling elsewhere.
If car is smashed up in railroad se,
cident, it is either rebuilt, a new one |,
made, or the price of the car is paid to
the owners by the company on whose
track the smash-up occurred.
Every contingency is provided for in
the system that has grown up among
the great roads. Recently the master
car builders of the country agreed on 1
set of schedule of prices for every con.
ceivable damage to cars, and the result
is going to be that the rolling stock Of
all the roads will grow more and more
uniform in style and quality, since it i
agreed that only serviceable partl
shall be put on cars that need mending
no matter how expensive and fancifu
those parts may have been originally
~ Y. Sun.